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Items by Reuters
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Stampede highlights Yemen's dire humanitarian crisis
The coalition's sea and air blockade of Houthi-controlled ports and Sana'a airport is to blame, according to the Houthis, for the shortages of essential goods in the import-dependent nation....
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Sudan Army declares new ceasefire with paramilitaries after fighting thwarts evacuations
Sudanese troops declared a new ceasefire on Wednesday in their fierce battle with paramilitary forces across the country after the failure of an earlier truce agreement to allow for the evacuation of civilians caught up in the sudden conflict. The 24-hour ceasefire, which the Army’s paramilitary rivals had already announced, was supposed to come...
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Sudan Army chief, the warlord and a feud that risks civil war
A battle that is hammering Khartoum and dragging Sudan to the brink of civil war, pits the Army chief and his regular forces against the streetwise fighters loyal to a former warlord. Army head, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, controls heavy weapons and the Air Force, but his soldiers face an irregular force...
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TIMELINE - Sudan years of political strife
Below is a timeline of Sudan’s political upheavals in recent years: 19 December, 2018 – Hundreds protest in the northern city of Atbara against soaring bread prices. Demonstrations spurred by a broader economic crisis quickly spread to Khartoum and other cities. Security services respond with tear gas and gunfire. 6 April,...
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FACTBOX - The struggle for power in Sudan
The Sudanese Army on Thursday warned of the risk of confrontation with the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, as tension between the two groups puts at risk a pending deal to restore civilian government. The following outlines the struggle for power in Sudan in recent years: Who has been in charge in Sudan? Sudan...
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TIMELINE: Yemen slide into political crisis and war
Saudi and Omani delegations have been holding talks with Houthi officials in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, as Riyadh seeks a permanent ceasefire to end its military involvement in the latest chapter of conflict in Yemen’s modern history. The following is a timeline of Yemen’s slide into conflict. 1990: Unification of north and south...
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In the Middle East, once improbable ententes set new tone
Adversaries across the Middle East have been taking steps to mend relations strained by years of tension and conflict, a trend most recently demonstrated in an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to re-establish diplomatic ties. The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in China for the first...
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Where is Al-Aqsa Mosque and why is it so important in Islam?
An Israeli police raid on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday has triggered a furious reaction from Palestinians across the Occupied West Bank and the wider Arab and Muslim world. Where and what is the Al-Aqsa Mosque? The Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City on a hill known to Jews as...
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After Finland joins NATO, why is Turkiye making Sweden wait?
Sweden’s path to NATO membership remains blocked by Turkiye and Hungary as neighbour, Finland officially joined the 30-member alliance on Tuesday after its application was ratified in record time. Analysts do not expect Turkiye to ratify Sweden’s application until after Turkiye’s 14 May election, at the earliest. Even then, it...
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Saudi Crown Prince acts to realign Mideast dynamics amid concern over US support
Saudi Arabia’s unpredictable Crown Prince is pushing hard to realign Middle East dynamics, engaging with old foes and orchestrating OPEC oil cuts, like the ones on Sunday, which took the global market by surprise. Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, known as MbS, has signalled he is prepared to go it...
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UAE plans long-term economic ties with Israel despite political strains
The United Arab Emirates’ commitment to a long-term strategic relationship with Israel should survive political turbulence, analysts say, after one of the most right-wing governing coalitions in Israel’s history prompted widespread anger. A series of recent moves and comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has infuriated the public in much of Arab world,...
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Israel tech sector reels from SVB collapse, proposed judicial reform
After weathering recession and military conflicts, Israel’s high-tech sector could be facing its biggest test yet as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) removes a key funding source and a proposed judicial overhaul threatens the bedrock of corporate law. Nicknamed “Start-up Nation”, Israel’s economy has ridden a wave of...
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What is at stake in Turkiye's upcoming election?
President Tayyip Erdogan faces the biggest test of his 20-year rule in the May elections that will decide not only who leads Turkiye but how it is governed, where its economy is headed and what role it may play to ease conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East. The presidential...
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Syria war shattered their lives, Turkiye quake crushed their hopes
After surviving a chemical attack in Syria, Douaa Idris, her husband and two children fled across the border to southern Turkiye where they painstakingly rebuilt their lives as refugees. “We were born again,” said Idris, 32, who put down roots in the city of Gaziantep alongside 450,000 Syrians escaping the...
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US-led Iraq war ushered in years of chaos and conflict
The 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq was meant to topple a dictator who had inflicted reckless wars and economic misery on his fellow Iraqis, and then to usher in a thriving democracy. Instead, Iraqis faced years of upheaval and chaos. A devastating insurgency, first by Saddam Hussein loyalists and then by Al...
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Saddam Hussein fell. Then violence in Iraq spiralled
When US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, Adel Amer celebrated what he thought marked the end of two decades of war and isolation under sanctions that had brought Iraq and its people to their knees. “I was dancing like crazy and couldn’t believe Saddam was gone. I felt like...
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Iraqis recount their struggles after Saddam Hussein's fall
The United States promised its 2003 invasion would herald a new era of democracy for Iraq but, 20 years on, Iraqis across the country’s sectarian, ethnic and political divides say they have yet to see the dividends. Here are some personal accounts from the past two decades: A Shia Muslim: Ahmed...
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Iraq ambush of Americans made a mockery of 'Mission Accomplished'
A year after President George W. Bush launched the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, four US civilian security contractors in SUVs took an ill-fated turn into the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Their assignment was to protect a convoy of catering trucks. It would be their last, and what happened to...
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Iraq War: quotes from the conflict and its aftermath
Here are some notable quotes from before, during and after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that toppled President Saddam Hussein. 29 January, 2002 – “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.” – US President...
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US grapples with forces unleashed by Iraq invasion, 20 years later
From an empowered Iran and eroded US influence, to the cost of keeping US troops in Iraq and Syria to combat Daesh fighters, the United States still contends with the consequences of invading Iraq 20 years ago, current and former officials say. Then-US President George W. Bush’s 2003 decision to...
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Frustrated Khamenei pushed for Saudi-Iran deal clinched in China
Eager to end its political and economic isolation, Iran had been trying for two years to restore ties with its long-time rival, Saudi Arabia, an Arab heavyweight and oil powerhouse. Last September, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, lost patience with the slow pace of bilateral talks and summoned his team to...
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Two decades after Saddam's fall, Iraqis still haunted by disappearances
When he first heard that US troops had toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraqi engineer, Hazem Mohammed, thought he would finally be able to find his brother, who had been shot dead and dumped in a mass grave after a failed uprising against Saddam’s rule in 1991. It wasn’t just Mohammed’s hopes...
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Reactions to Iran and Saudi Arabia resuming ties – Quotes
Here are some key quotes and reactions after Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to re-establish relations in a deal announced after four days of previously undisclosed talks in Beijing. Statement issued by Iran, Saudi Arabia and China Tehran and Riyadh agreed “to resume diplomatic relations between them and re-open their embassies...
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How deep are Egypt's economic troubles?
Egypt’s economy has come under severe pressure over the past year, with the Egyptian pound tumbling, foreign currency drying up and inflation soaring. What caused Egypt’s economic woes? Some of the causes date back decades, such as failed industrial development and export policies that created a persistent trade deficit. An over-valued currency,...